Including collaborative education agreements in your partnership portfolio can support your enrollment and degree production objectives. Learn about degree and non-degree articulations such as 1+1, 3+1, and 3+2 programs that can leverage program strengths or utilize excess capacities. Non-degree certificate programs are also included here. If potential partners are not immediately evident, survey your faculty to see what connections already exist that might be built upon.
The collaboration types in this category can be configured in numerous ways, but their primary purpose is to facilitate enrollment in a KU degree program. Exchange partnerships may also facilitate enrollment at KU, but that enrollment is typically for a shorter period and does not lead to completion of a KU degree. Enrollment-driving partnerships are typically spearheaded by deans or department chairs, as they require curriculum mapping and long-term unit buy-in to be successful. These agreements require an Agreement of Cooperation.
KU Degree-Yielding Articulations
Undergraduate Models
- Credit Transfer Agreement: Similar to an agreement for domestic credit transfer from a community college, this agreement facilitates the transfer of undergraduate credits from an international partner to KU for students interested in pursuing a KU bachelor’s degree. The most common configurations for these agreements are 1+3 and 2+2 articulations. [LINK to redacted sample agreement]
Graduate Models
- 1+1 articulations can facilitate collaborative degrees at the graduate level. These programs are constrained by both KBOR and HLC policy, in particular by the number of external credits that may be applied toward the KU credential. For example, in most cases no more than nine external credits may be accepted in transfer toward a 30-credit master’s degree. However, the ability to accept transfer credit creates an opportunity for dual-degree collaborations that are very attractive. Students receive degrees from both institutions after transferring credit in both directions.
Some Real Examples from KU Units
A KU unit was looking to increase enrollment in one of their master’s programs and had an international partner with students interested in attending KU. Through this agreement, the partner school’s students attend one year of a comparable program at their home institution, then come to KU for an accelerated one-year enrollment in KU’s program. The KU unit accepts a certain number of the partner’s credits toward the KU graduate degree, and the international students pay the full cost of one year of graduate enrollment at KU. [LINK to redacted sample agreement]
- Strengthening Partnerships to Embrace KU Enrollment [TODO content]
Combined Models
XU+XG models allow departments and schools to accept transfer credit from an international partner. In these structures, students may receive both an undergraduate degree from their home country institution and a graduate degree from KU. For example, in a 3+2 program, the student takes three years of undergraduate coursework at their home institution, and then two years of accelerated coursework at KU that allows them to complete both the final year of their bachelor’s degree from their home institution and a KU master’s degree.
Some Real Examples from KU Units
- 3+2 Agreement: The KU unit sponsoring this agreement was seeking increased enrollment in a graduate program. In this model, the partner’s students attend three years of undergraduate study at their home institution before coming to KU. At KU, they enroll for two years of coursework which, when combined with the three years at home, allows the students to complete both a home-institution bachelor’s degree and a KU master’s degree. [LINK to redacted sample agreement]
- 3+1 Degree-Seeking Articulation: This agreement also facilitates international student enrollment in a KU graduate degree program. In this partnership, students from the international partner school complete ¾ of their undergraduate degree at their home institution, and then come to KU for a special graduate degree program. The KU master’s degree will not be awarded until the partner verifies completion of their bachelor’s degree. [LINK to redacted sample agreement]
Non-Degree-Yielding Articulations
XU+ZU agreements allow students to begin their bachelor’s degree program at their home institution (X years of study) and then take Z years of undergraduate courses at KU. Upon completion of their time at KU, they receive the bachelor’s degree from their home institution, which accepts the KU credits for transfer. No KU undergraduate degree is awarded.
Some Real Examples from KU Units
- 3+1 Non-Degree Articulation: This partnership, unlike the other X+X collaborations described on this site, focuses on undergraduates, with the goal of adding an international component to the KU degree program while filling undersubscribed upper-level courses and offering students from the international partner an opportunity to learn discipline-relevant English. Partner students attend three years at their home institution before spending their final year at KU; upon completion of the fourth year, they are awarded a bachelor’s degree from their home institution and may continue at KU on an accelerated master’s degree track if they wish. [LINK to redacted sample agreement]
Links to Resources
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